Russ Feingold

this motion requires we do first things first. It says we should pass marriage penalty relief, but it also says we should substantially extend the solvency of Social Security and Medicare at the same time. By 2037, the Social Security…

this debate, like the debate on the estate tax that it follows, allows the Senate to talk about priorities. Yes, some sensible reforms are in order to eliminate the marriage penalty for middle-income Americans. But before we enact a major…

the bill before us is a major tax bill. Because the bill sunsets in 2004 to comply with the Senate's Byrd Rule, the Joint Committee on Taxation's official estimate is that the bill would cost $55.5 billion. And in the likely circumstance…

as we on this side of the aisle have made clear, this debate is about priorities. The majority has made clear that its highest priority is to expand tax breaks for the wealthiest 2 percent of the population. Yes some sensible reforms are…

Quite simply, this amendment will terminate the future production of the Navy's Trident II missile. I have made it a priority to seek to eliminate unnecessary Government spending. In my view, the Trident II program is just the kind of cold…

All of us who work on the issue with him consider him our commander, in effect. We, of course, are well aware not only of the fact that he worked so hard on this issue for years before his Presidential campaign, but he is also doing a…

What I have found most effective in talking to people, if you mention the issue of campaign finance reform in general, to use that term, or in the abstract, it is clear to people you are trying to do something that is important. But if you…

We know about some of them, but there are whole categories, such as these 527s, we are not even sure where they came from or exactly how much is being spent.

But let me be clear. Democrats, as well as Republicans, welcome the opportunity to eliminate the estate tax for middle-income Americans and families who own small businesses and family farms. We, on this side of the aisle, believe that we…

I rise today to describe why I opposed the amendment offered by the senior Senator from Arizona, Mr. McCain, to this legislation on the issue of schools and libraries blocking children's access to certain materials on the Internet, and…

despite the claims in the press by some opponents of this measure, this bill is fair and evenhanded. It affects groups on both sides of the political spectrum. It is not aimed at any particular group or players in the elections. It is…

let me note that there is no constitutional argument against this bill because these organizations receive a tax exemption. The public is entitled to this information in exchange for the substantial tax benefit these groups receive. I am…

I am extremely pleased we have reached an agreement to consider and almost certainly pass H.R. 4762, which passed the House last night by an overwhelming vote of 385-39. Tomorrow will be a historic day. For the first time since 1979, the…

I wish to voice my concern about the deteriorating human rights situation in Russia. A decade after the break-up of the Soviet Union, Russia still faces enormous obstacles to becoming a stable and prosperous nation. Russia's GDP is less…

the Nation has been engaged in a raging debate in recent days on whether Gary Graham should be executed in Texas. Supporters of the death penalty, including Governor Bush, have said there is no conclusive proof that Texas or any State has…

I support the Senate motion to instruct the Conferees on fuel economy standards. This issue has been controversial in my state, and I believe its effect on automobile fuel economy standards is not well understood. My vote today is about…

This amendment extends the authority of the General Services Administration to convey surplus property to local governments for law enforcement purposes for two years until the end of December 2002. This amendment will help a number of…

I rise in favor of the McCain-Feingold-Lieberman amendment. I hope we will have an overwhelming vote later this afternoon in favor of full disclosure of the contributions and expenditures of 527 organizations. As we discussed yesterday on…

I would also hope that the Senator from Pennsylvania would join the Senator from Wisconsin and me where the next amendment would be one that included all organizations. The fact is, this is most egregious, because there is no reporting…

Finally, Mr. President, the most powerful argument against the opponents' attempt to hide behind the fig leaf of this sham constitutional objection is that their famed concern for the prerogatives of the House of Representatives will not…

very simply, this is a vote on campaign finance reform. The question is whether this body will take the opportunity, offered by this amendment, to shine some sunlight on the secret money that these 527 organizations are pouring into our…

this amendment is not about politics. I assure my colleagues, this amendment covers all groups regardless of their politics. Not only do we not cover the AFL-CIO, we don't cover the Chamber of Commerce. The National Right to Life, as with…

I do want to emphasize that there is no constitutional problem with this bill. First, there is no constitutional right to a tax exemption, the Supreme Court has made that abundantly clear. This amendment simply requires disclosure as a…

I also point out that the AFL-CIO has also said it is willing to make further disclosure itself as long as business is willing to do the same. I would invite the other side to actually offer a real amendment--not a sense of the Senate, but…

if there is one thing on which the entire Senate should be able to agree, it is that we need to have full disclosure by groups participating in the electoral process by running advertisements that mention candidates. This is a first step…